Tied in the lead for Moore seat

A POLL shows the Liberals and the independent candidate backed by Clover Moore are neck and neck to take over her seat in the coming byelection.

The independent candidate Alex Greenwich, who commissioned the poll, and his Liberal opponent, Shayne Mallard, each polled 31 per cent of the primary vote. The Greens candidate Chris Harris polled 25 per cent.

''I would expect Green voters would preference me over the Liberal Party. That was certainly always the way it was with Clover,'' he said.

''I share their values of fighting for environmental sustainability, animal welfare and gay and lesbian rights.''

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The ABC election analyst Antony Green said the automated telephone poll of 422 voters, conducted by ReachTEL on September 26, should be treated with some caution as many residents do not have phones at home, particularly in that electorate.

But he said Mr Greenwich was probably the favourite now Labor had decided not to field a candidate. ''If Labor had run I think the Liberals would have won easily,'' he said.

Mr Harris, also a former City of Sydney councillor, said he knew he was the underdog but was encouraged by the poll results. ''The poll demonstrates that the progressive vote in Sydney is well in excess of 50 per cent,'' he said.

Mr Mallard declined to comment.

The poll asked residents: ''If a state election were held today and independent Clover Moore was not running, which of the following would receive your first preference vote? If you are undecided, to which do you have even a slight leaning?''

Respondents were not told Labor was not fielding a candidate. Twelve per cent of respondents polled selected ''other''.

The October 27 byelection was triggered by the resignation of Cr Moore, who left Parliament due to legislation preventing MPs from also sitting on local councils.

Correction: The original version of this story said that Mr Mallard spent 12 years on the City of Sydney council. in fact he was on the City of South Sydney council from 2000 to 2004 and was then elected to the City of Sydney when the councils amalgamated.